Civil aviation opens investigation into the plane crash

The plane was on a training flight from Madrid with a pilot-instructor and two trainee pilots on board. The pilot was forced to bring the plane down in the grounds of a Gesa power station near the Son Moix soccer stadium, narrowly missing electricity cables. José Cantó Fontcubera, aged 21, one of the trainee pilots, was discharged from hospital yesterday. The instructor, Guillermo Rigo Barceló, aged 25, and the other trainee, Juan Miguel Palau Pons, 28, were still in hospital at noon yesterday, but were reported to be making good progress. Neither wished to comment on the accident with the media. The plane, a Cessna 172, has already been removed from the crash site to Son Bonet airfield and is being examined by Civil Aviation experts, who are seeking the cause of the accident. A spokesman said that they had already spoken to the pilot and the trainees although they have not yet made full statements. The same source said that there are usually two reasons for this type of accident; human error or mechanical failure. The spokesman said that it was still too soon to say what had happened, although it is believed that the plane may have run out of fuel. The investigations, which are expected to take some time, are expected to determine if the plane lost fuel during the flight or if the fuel died not reach the engines. The plane had taken off from Cuatro Vientos airfield in Madrid and should have landed at Majorca's Son Bonet airfield on Thursday afternoon. Such a flight would take three and a half to four hours, depending on the wind.